Trouble From The Dead
by Kam I Am
Summary: What begins with the grand announcement of The Daily Bugle Radio Station escalates into a flight with the Vulture, a team-up with the Punisher, and more Spider Slayers then you can shake a web at; all in time for Spidey's 2000 New Year Celebration True Believers!
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: I do not own Spider-Man nor any of the other properties included, everything belongs to their respective owner.**_

_**December 27th, 1999**_

The etchings of a smile crossed Peter's face as he examined the tattering old sketch. Inside the decades old Museum of the City of New York he was admiring the 1911 artist Louis Biederman's interpretation of New York's skyline as it might be seen in 1999.

_Pretty darn close Biederman…_

Peter thought as he gazed through the hanging window high above and viewed the skyline comparing it to the picture. Piercing the clouds and reflecting sunlight one could see both the Baxter Building as well as Stark Tower intertwined with the rest of the skyline some of which had remained from Louis Biederman's time.

He glanced down at his watch and jolted realizing he'd overstayed his visit and that the press conference he was assigned to photograph would be taking place any minute now. Rushing out the door and into New York's endless bustle Peter found that the picture was still high in his mind. He always found it interesting that civilization had finally come to a place where they could look back and marvel at its older self. Generally he didn't care much for art but something about the style and the fact that a new millennia would soon be upon them carved the image into his mind. What was next for the world? Had Biederman's interpretation been one of hope or foreboding?

_Can the philosophical bogus Parker, Jonah's got more important things for you to do…_

He managed to get to the place just in time. Popping out his press badge to the guard holding down one side of the street he quickly crossed and joined the growing number of reporters standing outside the Daily Bugle. What made the particular Conference so special was not as much the topic as it was the speaker.

J. Jonah Jameson had done a couple rallies before, but a full blown Press Conference? Something big was coming down the pipeline, especially if Jonah wanted other media outlets here, on any other day he'd complain about how he was losing business to all of them.

This also brought Peter to wonder why he specifically was asked to come – any other chance and he'd be regulated to taking pictures of,

_Spider Man._

Peter swallowed hard. So maybe that's what this was about, a full out media blitz on why Jonah hated the Webhead and why everyone else should too.

_I catch enough hate from Old Jolly as it is._

He thought shoving his hands glumly into his pockets; he had some University work to finish anyways, plus a date with MJ later on – so what if Jonah didn't get his precious face shots? Grumps could scalp the pics off some other photographer and Peter wouldn't have to listen to him spew nonsense.

_Everybody wins._

He started pushing through the crowd of reporters when he paused. Standing just feet away next to a tall brunette was a very familiar man, one which he hadn't seen for several months, and one which he had been hoping not to see again. The man appeared to notice Peter at the same time and began to approach him.

"Fancy meeting you here, Peter."

"Ben! Long time no see."

Ben Urich. Ex-Investigative Reporter for the Daily Bugle. It was rumored he had discovered and held identities of at least a half dozen caped crusaders and as a result was not thought very highly of in the Superhero community. Even the more courtly of his fellow heroes, Daredevil, had voiced his irritation with the man and his meddling reports. While Peter had half a mind to just run off on Ben the inner politeness engrained in him by years of parenting by Aunt May and Uncle Ben kicked in and held him firmly in place. Resulting in him asking,

"So where'd you run off to for so long… pal?"

Adding the last bit almost as an afterthought.

"Oh you know, here and there, did some freelance for the Tribune down in Jersey. Blew the lid off this huge racketeering scandal the Mayor got into."

Peter snorted.

"Mr. Jameson hasn't printed a word on what the Mayor's been doing for weeks."

Ben gaped and slowly locked eyes with Peter at this statement.

"Why? Do you think he's up to something? Is Jonah covering something up?"

Peter scolded himself silently for not remembering how careful he had to be with Urich. The investigative reporter was more paranoid than a room full of TSA workers. One misstep and Spidey could quite possibly be his next scoop. Laughing off the inquiry best he could he said,

"Come on Ben you've read the stuff that Jonah'll shove into the Bugle, Spidey's got a bigger section than the sports column nowadays."

Ben's face turned friendly again.

"Well the Yankees did drop four in a row last week."

Feedback from the microphone interrupted their conversation and they both turned to the stage. Out came Robbie Robertson wearing a blue suit and tie. Peter smiled slightly at the sight of the man; Robbie was a good friend and one of the few that could make a trip to the Bugle bearable. Audibly exhaling Robbie took in the sight of the audience before saying,

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my pleasure to present to you Editor in Chief and _great_ friend of mine – J. Jonah Jameson."

The crowd erupted into applause while Peter chuckled silently to himself.

_Great friend? Wonder how much JJ paid him for that bit._

Finally the toothbrush mustache touting man came out onto the stage, appearing much livelier and friendlier than at any time Peter had seen him back at the Bugle. The graying man retrieved a few note cards from his suit pocket and cleared his throat before beginning.

"Thank you all for coming here today. I've been in the journalism business for over thirty years and it still amazes me how much times have changed. We have a different generation of people roaming the streets, a new breed. One which is becoming quicker and quicker on the uptake, one which doesn't just read news anymore but _craves_ it. Desperately wanting to be alerted to all the world's happenings right as they happen. And so while myself and other members of my generation still look to the humble Printing Press this newer breed will be looking elsewhere and will be using another sensory mode altogether."

Jameson paused here for a moment here – dramatic effect Peter assumed as he continued to examine the scene through the lens of his camera.

"Which is why, on the 101st Anniversary of the Daily Bugle, Ladies and Gentlemen I'm proud to announce – The Daily Bugle's Official Radio Station!"

Peter stepped back for a moment.

_That was unexpected._

Though it did make sense he supposed, the Bugle had been doing better than usual recently so it was only natural for it to expand. But why Radio of all things? TV had surely taken over as the main media outlet and the Internet was slowly gaining steam as well… but then again the Bugle _did_ have its own website. Peter rolled his eyes for a moment at the thought.

_Amazing that dinosaur hasn't been taken down yet…_

The Bugle's website was an ancient fossil, showcasing where all the horribly animated pictures of the early 90s had crawled up to die. In between Jonah's rants Peter had occasionally brought up the horrid condition of the webspace and had even offered to redesign the site personally – for a small fee of course.

Stuck in his own musings he had been ignoring the remainder of JJ's speech and only returned his attention moments before he finished.

"And I just wanted to publicly thank the main funder of this project - Norman Osborn of Oscorp Industries! Bring him out Robbie!"

Peter instinctively clinched his fists at the sound of the name and it took him all his self control not to go into one of his Spidey fighting stances. In the two years since their last fight it was clear the fear that Osborn's name brought would never recede. His mind fell slowly back to that last brutal meeting…

o.0.o.0.o

Furious flames engulfed all around the two combatants. A mad back and forth aboard Goblin's glider had left them cascading unto the roof of the Flatiron building. The crash had resulted in the destruction of Osborn's Glider as well as Peter's webshooters. There would be no hiding behind their clever contraptions tonight.

Their eyes were locked and the lion-like circling of the two made it clear this would be the final showdown. Without formal recognition it began.

The Goblin was throwing bombs with mad disregard for his own wellbeing. Maniacal laughter pierced what silence the explosions did not penetrate. Spider-Man was traipsing here and there, back and forth, avoiding the erupting infernos best he could. Finally an opening was found, and he shot himself through it with the aid of just one hand, his target was found and he landed a clean kick right across the Goblin's jaw.

The wretch snarled as blood seeped through his mask. He came at the Spider forcefully letting nothing hold his fist back. The sharp exhale of breath and momentary keeling over of his opponent was all he needed to assure him the bug was ripe for the killing. With a few more kicks added in for good measure he nodded.

"Good riddance."

Norman murmured as he dropped an explosive inches from Peter's face and walked backwards slowly, eagerly waiting to observe as his opponent was reduced to a smoking heap of flesh.

Peter's vision had gone blurry but there was no mistaking what he saw in front of him. The wind had been knocked fully out of him and it was a struggle to even breathe but he knew with the timed explosive around he was playing with borrowed time.

His spider sense had heightened right as the bomb was activated and slowed time almost to a snail's pace. The slowing of time gave him ample time to think and he had came to one conclusion. With one stretch of his arm the bomb was in his grasp and he smacked it's side activator with his thumb – dropping the countdown from ten seconds to three. From there it was just a simple roll to the Goblin's position and with so little time to deactivate it…

o.0.o.0.o

From results gained after the battle it appeared trauma from the explosion had once again returned Norman to his amnesiac state, in which he had now remained for the last two years. Yet it became clear the bomb's explosion had costed him more than just his memory as Norman Osborn was wheeled out onto the stage next to Jonah.

It was fate's cruelest of ideas Peter now thought, returning a man to his normality and goodness only to take away his natural mobility in the process.

"Thank you Mr. Jameson."

Norman replied looking up to the man and nodding as the microphone was handed down to him. He gave the audience a once over before

"Ever since the attack on the Flatiron building left me crippled I've been on a quest. A quest of betterment for both this city and its many inhabitants. In funding this Radio Station Oscorp Industries hopes to lift old boundaries and bring knowledge to the citizens of New York –"

Peter had been listening intently to Mr. Osborn's words but he suddenly felt the same familiar hair-raising sensation. For a moment he thought it was Osborn causing his Spider Sense to go off but he could feel that something farther away was causing the sensation. His eyes poured over the many buildings surrounding the street that had been blocked off for the Press Conference. A notion guided him to look towards the building on the far right, he gazed higher and higher, and then…

"Oh my g- Excuse me."

Peter was already pushing through the crowd when Ben turned to him and called,

"Parker! Where you going?"

"I… Uh, bathroom. I'll be back!"

Peter didn't know how much time he had left but the faint, hardly audible noise of a sniper loading rounds seventeen floors above Norman Osborn told him it wouldn't be long…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

His costume was hidden just beneath his windbreaker and jeans but there simply was no time, he could already envision the assassin locating his target, taking that last deep inhale of oxygen before it began… before it ended.

"Come on!"

Peter urged himself forward, ignoring the stitch quickly forming in his chest. He turned down a dark alleyway and swung his bag off his shoulder and onto the ground. Digging into the contents he found his webshooters and mask.

With both in hand he was already racing up the side of a building. It was tricky sticking his mask on one handed – tricky enough for Peter to decide he'd wouldn't mess with the rest of his costume just yet. The mask was what was really important right now anyways.

He reached the top of the structure in moments and sprinted to the safety railing. Gazing out and across the street he realized that the sniper was positioned two stories below him in the building parallel to his.

_That should be an interesting jump…_

Closer inspection told Peter that the gunman was simply standing ready at his position.

_Who's this guy after?_

Realizing the blessing in his foes momentary motionless he wasted no more time with questions. Ultimately deciding that a leap from his building to the opposing one was unpractical he turned to a different strategy. On either corner of the building were large broadcast antennas which would make optimal launching points.

The time-strapped hero shot one strand of webbing to the right antenna and pulled back until the line went tight. Repeating the process on its leftward counterpart he began to pull back even farther on the two strands of web until the broadcast antennas were groaning and shaking in protest. With both lines threatening to tear from his grip he sprung into the air and felt the webs shoot him forward, essentially slingshotting himself to the enemy.

It was only midflight that he realized how potentially dangerous his actions were, one stray bullet from the gunman would be all it took to kill the arachnid. As fate would have it, that nightmare scenario began turning into a reality. His Spider- Sense flared into action and felt as if it was slowing time just as his adversary switched to the handgun and pulled its trigger. With a quick midair twirl Peter could feel the bullet whiz just beneath his back and collide against the opposing building. A silencer on the gun left the dozens of reporters below oblivious to the situation.

The exhilaration this near death experience coupled with his flying sensation couldn't be shaken and Peter let out an uncontrolled and boisterous,

"Wooooohoo!"

With nothing to stop him from crashing through the window he went sailing feet first knocking his assailant unconscious in the process. Peter hit the carpeted floor hard and had to force himself into a roll to halt his forward momentum. His windbreaker tore at the sleeve during this and revealed the red and blue gleam of his costume. Cursing vehemently he pulled the jacket off fully and revealed the upper half of his costume.

With a sigh he slung the torn garment over one shoulder and examined the room – the man still out cold on the floor. It appeared the assassin had been hiding out in a modest room of the tenant building.

"Hope you weren't living here buddy, this little stunt is probably eviction worthy."

Smiling he peered down at the man, he was garbed in a dark stealth suit with a pair of green tactical goggles.

"Hold up… I'd recognize that'd get up anywhere, you're Jade Syndicate!"

Peter inched closer to the dormant man and nudged him with his sneaker. The man groaned in response and shifted his hand just enough to reveal a pager in his grasp. The words "Help! Spider!" sliding slowly across its green tinted screen. His legs turned to jelly for a moment but he quickly shook himself free and knew action had to be taken against whatever backup the man had called in.

There was a thundering of footsteps coming from the staircase outside. Unable to judge how many men were coming in he panicked and web zipped to the ceiling, waiting for the arrival…

The door whammed open shaking the very framework of the room all the way up to the ceiling, forcing Spider-Man to cling tighter to his position up above. The posse of five stepped into the room and examined the unconscious form of their chosen sniper. One man stepped over and crouched next to the man,

"Well, he's got a pulse."

Meanwhile another thug had shifted closer towards the window where Peter's torn windbreaker was laying.

"What the… Boss, somebody left their jacket on the ground."

A third man stepped up, the tallest out of the bunch, and shook his head at his ally by the window.

"You moron, it was probably Ozzy's."

"But boss, the text said 'Help. Spider.', You don't think he meant…"

"No, of course not! For Christ's sake we're on the seventeenth floor of an abandoned apartment building, I'm pretty damn sure we'd have seen him if he was here."

Even with these words of confidence the responder still appeared a bit shaken. Deciding he'd heard enough the Webhead said,

"Sorry, got stuck in traffic – big Press Conference holding up the street today and all."

Spider-Man dropped from the ceiling and crushed the man, who had checked the other's pulse, flat to the ground.

"Lemme guess, you're clueless and he's stupid – no wait he's clueless and you're stupid… Hold on, now I got it –"

Spidey said as one of the four remaining thugs charged him and led in with a few insubstantial jabs.

"You're all clueless _and_ stupid!"

Twirling about to avoid the blows he let fly a long enough strand of web to take his opponent by the feet and tugged on it just enough to send the enemy slamming to the ground.

"Quick! Circle him before it's too late!"

Said a man that Spider-Man determined had been the receiver of his "Stupid" comment.

"Aw, don't you fellas think you're a little old to be playing ring around the rosy?"

The taunt seemed not to affect them and they began to circle him.

"Three on one doesn't seem so fair – let's fix that!"

He shot out a length of a web to the man on either side of him and tugged the lines together, forcing them to collide into one another with a resounding smack. That left one gentlemen who had just seemingly realized he had brought his assault rifle with him and began to make use of it. Spidey hit the ground as bullets flew overhead and dove behind an upturned table in an area of the room he'd assumed had once been the kitchen.

Once the first barrage of fire had ended Spidey peered over the side of his makeshift cover and shot a glob of webbing right in the thug's face. His opponent was dazed and unable to see which gave Spidey the opportunity to leap over and give the man a quick roundhouse kick to the face.

"Done and done."

The irony in these words soon became clear as his Spider-Sense flared up. If he could just flip around and find out who -

**Pain.**

**Agonizing Pain.**

If he were to look around Spidey would see that this attack had came from an eighth Jade Syndicate member – one who had been lying in wait the whole time, carrying two M-26 Taser guns. Without warning he was subject to an attack by the second taser gun. His nervous system was host to a greater burst of pain than he'd ever felt before. It was too much for him…

Without warning his mind began to drift farther and farther away and soon he found his world going dark.


	3. Chapter 3

He awoke dazed and confused, his eyes fluttering between their familiar darkness and the faint light of the room. His head was leaning back and there was an unconscious attempt to swing it forward - one which was met with failure. Even the suggestion of movement in his neck sent spasms running down his back.

_Must've been out for awhile if I can't even set up straight._

For the next twenty minutes Peter attempted to experiment with his body's limited moment, even with the failing light of the room he was able to deduce that he had been bounded to a chair. The wires were so tightly tied that they cut harshly into his wrists. Struggling with the bindings only made the condition worse and with the stupor he was in it felt too hard to simply break through with his Spider strength.

Suddenly his mind fell back to the last time he had been to a chair, bound against his will. The maniacal Goblin hovering over him, gloating his victory, discovering his identity…

"Not again!"

He exclaimed into the vacant landscape.

"Keep it quiet, will ya."

An alarmed response echoed from far out in the darkness. Peter gasped, the voice nearly catching him off guard. Regaining his composure he turned his head slightly to face the general direction of the voice.

"Look punk, if it's my lunch money you're after the jokes on you – The neighborhood spider gig doesn't pay."

_Not well atleast… _

He thought back to Jonah for a moment angrily. When he got out of this jam the first thing he was going to do was raise the price of his shots.

At the sound of Spidey's "punk" comment the same Jade Syndicate member, his captor, stepped into the faint light of the room.

"I said quiet!"

"Hold on… I recognize that voice, you sound just like-"

At that moment the lone gunman withdrew his pistol and pointed it threateningly at Spidey's face.

"Look! I'll tell you everything just quit it with all the noise, we aren't even supposed to be here. Just keep calm and give me a few minutes to explain."

Peter scoffed under his mask, finding it surprising his captor hadn't bothered to take it off yet.

"You think tasing me twice will get me to listen to anything you have to say, pal? I know car salesmen trust worthier than you."

The man sighed before bringing his hand to the top of his grayish mask and slowly pulling it off his head.

"Look I'm –"

"Punisher! What the– I- why did you tase me!?

His newly unmasked keeper's face contorted into one of anger, clearly giving into the frustration that a talk with Spider-Man would usually leave.

"Would you please just SHUT UP!"

The sound of this exclamation echoed all throughout the dark building.

"Just roll with me on this – there's not much more time to talk. I went undercover to try and get closer to the Kingpin, got hired into the Jade Syndicate. I knew if I could get him in the same room as me it'd be a quick bang bang and he'd be down for the count. 'Cept the only person he'd come in person to meet is you. When I saw you pounding on the Syndicate there earlier I made a split second decision and…"

"So you tasered me?!"

"I would've blown my cover if had done this any other way!"

"Why couldn't you atleast have given me a head's up?"

"Because you ask too many damn questions, that's why."

"I could've played unconscious or something, you haven't seen me act Punisher – trust me dude! I can act!"

There was a slight pause after this statement as Peter took in all this sudden information.

"So… I just wait here tied up for Kingpin?"

"Pretty much."

Peter gritted his teeth and found himself hating the situation more and more with every passing moment.

"What about you? Where do you end up in this scheme?"

"I point him in your direction, wait till he turns around, and blow his brains out."

"That simple huh?"

Peter could do very little to hide the sarcasm in his voice.

"Pretty much."

"What about the dozen or so goons that are going to be flanking him? Did you think about them?"

The vigilante shrugged at the inquiry.

"We'll improvise."

Peter mouthed the word mockingly before groaning,

"We are so dead… Deader than dead… And these damn ropes! Cut 'em off before I pay you back for that tasing incident earlier today. "

Spidey's anger at being tied up was beginning to boil over and he found this emotional fuel slowly strengthening his dulled muscles. He stopped suddenly as a thought came to mind,

"Hold on. Today at the Conference, the sniper – who was it that you guys were assigned to shoot up earlier today?"

"That'd be yesterday now actually and…"

Punisher hesitated slightly at the question; Spider-Man could tell that there was a debate going on within the man. Finally the vigilante shrugged and said,

"Hell, I guess if it gets you to shut up it's worth telling you. That one reporter Daredevil's always complaining about – Ben Urich. The message Kingpin sent said the guy knew too much for his own good."

Spider-Man did a double take at this announcement, he had been standing right there next to him.

"And you were going to kill him?"

"The guy's given the Super community hell for years now anyways, small price to pay if it means getting to Kingpin."

"And that's reason enough to murder a man? A man with a family, hopes, and dreams?"

Punisher swallowed hard revealing he had been dealing with that same moral conflict.

"Jesus, when the hell did you become so interested in my moral decisions?"

"Sorry, I was just checking to see if you had gotten over your whole "Death Wish Phase" yet… Did Kingpin give any specific reason why he wanted this guy dead?"

"Yeah actually, the Urich guy came up from Jersey just off a tip that some "Spider Slayer" prototype was floating around recently. Sounded like he wanted to do a big exposé on it."

"_Spider_ Slayers!?"

Punisher threw another threatening glance his way, obviously wanting Peter to lower his voice.

"Yeah. That "Spider" part had to be a coincidence – no need to get all flustered about it."

"No, no, NO. There's a reason I'm flustered, those Slayers were ordered by Kingpin _for_ me. He hired this Spencer Smythe guy to make them for him. You don't know how much hell those things gave me – nearly revealed my identity. That must be why Kingpin's coming in person – he's brought the Slayers to finish me off. The thing about them is that they don't stop, they're like bloodhounds, get one bit of my DNA and they're off for anything that I've ever touched. Practically ransacked my apartment. Last time it was alright, but sleeping arrangements have changed and –"

_Oh god! Mary Jane!_

A mix of pure fear and adrenaline suddenly shot into his bloodstream. Terrible thoughts raced across his mind, of MJ coming home greeted by the expressionless death machines, killing her without a second thought…

"**NO!"**

He felt his wrists forcing themselves against the wires, cutting deeper and deeper and delivering great pain, but he willed them anyways. Blood seeped through the deepening cuts and mixed with the red of his costume. Punisher was alarmed but there was nothing he could do for Spider-Man was already up and out of the chair. Without warning the lights flickered on, briefly blinding the fleeing hero. Turning back he could see Punisher with a control panel in hand.

"Wait! Give me a shot at this, Spider. If Kingpin finds out you're missing my cover's blown and this whole six month operation will have been a bust."

"I don't even know how long I've been out Punisher. If these Slayers have already been activated… I can't waste my time waiting around here for some crimelord – I just can't."

"Well if I'm not getting my part of this deal… at least let me help you out of this jam."

_Deal?!_

Peter scoffed at the notion that Punisher had given him any say in the matter.

"No. We've already tried "working" together once and I ended up in one of the biggest crime lord's basement because of it – these Slayer things won't be going after you anyways, this is something I have to do on my own."

"Spider-"

"_**No.**_"

The arachnid was already backing away from Punisher.

"I'm doing things my way."

And with that he was smashing through a nearby glass panel and swinging away, disappearing into New York's endless skyline…

* * *

**A/N: Greetings! I hope you're all enjoying the story so far, any feedback you have would be greatly appreciated. Also! Just a quick note that while this is not entirely based in the 1994 Spider-Man Animated series the backstory for the Spider-Slayers **_**is**_** mainly influenced by the storyline in that cartoon.**


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